GAZA CITY — Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s party is advancing new legislation to ban the Islamic call to prayer in mosques. Human rights advocates and Palestinian mayors have denounced the bill as another discriminatory move by Israel against Palestinians.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Jewish Power party said it was working on a bill that would ban the call to prayer unless it is licensed by the state.
Approval would depend on criteria set by the occupation authorities, including volume levels, noise-reduction measures, a mosque’s location, its proximity to residential areas and the impact on nearby residents.
The draft law was submitted by National Security Committee chair Zvika Fogel. He allegedly said the law seeks to curb the “unreasonable noise” of the muezzin, the person who calls Muslims to prayer.
“A muezzin using an unusually loud volume is not a religious issue,” Fogel said. “It is a matter of public health and quality of life. Residents cannot continue to suffer from systematic legal violations.”
Under the proposal, Israeli forces could order the immediate shutdown of loudspeakers if the conditions are breached. Continued violations would allow the forces to confiscate the equipment.
The penalties outlined in the bill are steep. Installing or operating loudspeakers without a permit would carry a fine of 50,000 shekels ($15,660). Violating permit conditions would result in a 10,000-shekel ($3,100) fine.
In its explanatory note, the Jewish Power party described noise from mosques as a “health hazard” and claimed existing laws do not provide sufficient tools to address the issue.
Efforts to restrict or ban the Muslim call to prayer in Israeli-occupied Palestine are not new.
In 2017, a similar bill seeking to ban the use of loudspeakers for the call to prayer passed a first reading in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, but was never enacted.
In 2024, Ben Gvir instructed police to prevent mosques from broadcasting the call to prayer, saying it “disturbs” Israeli settlers. He also ordered the police to confiscate the loudspeakers from mosques.
Commenting on the latest draft bill, Ben-Gvir said the call to prayer was, in many areas, “unreasonable noise” that harms residents’ health and quality of life.
“This is a phenomenon that cannot be accepted,” he said, adding that the legislation would grant police powers they currently lack.
Ben-Gvir has a history of opposing the Islamic call to prayer. In 2013, long before assuming office, Ben-Gvir and a group of far-right activists disrupted residents of the Tel Aviv neighbourhood of Ramat Aviv by blasting the adhan through loudspeakers. — QNN
